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The Queensland Interstate Trade (IST) collection is a quarterly survey which collects information about the interstate movement of goods into and out of Queensland from and to other parts of Australia. This movement can be by purchase, sale or transfer. The information sought is the dollar value of goods by commodity classification of the goods. The classification used is based on the Standard International Trade Classification, Revision 4 (SITC).

RELEVANCE

The main purpose of the IST collection is to satisfy the information needs of the Queensland State Government. The Queensland Treasury use the collection data as input into budgetary matters, including the preparation of Queensland State Accounts, and for industry planning from an import replacement perspective.The ABS uses the value in the Interstate Trade, Queensland as one of the indicators used to model net interstate trade in goods for the other states. The interstate trade is a component within the state accounts balancing item, and is the difference between components of Gross State Product Expenditure (GSP(E)) and Gross State Product Income/Expenditure (GSP(I/E)). Summary tables are published on the ABS website forInterstate Trade, Queensland (cat. no. 8502.3).

From June quarter 2008, the IST collection has been conducted under the Census and Statistics Act 1905. Prior to June quarter 2008, the data for Interstate Trade was collected under the 'The Statistical Returns Act, 1896', Queensland.

TIMELINESS

The IST estimates are compiled based on data covering the three months of a reference quarter with the statistics released 14 weeks after the end of that quarter.

ACCURACY

Estimates of interstate trade are based on information collected from a sample of registered businesses rather than a full enumeration of businesses and are therefore subject to sampling error. That is, they may differ from the figures that would have been produced if the information had been obtained for all registered businesses. The sampling errors are measurable and provide users of the statistics with an indication of the precision of the estimate. The measure used by the ABS for this is the relative standard error (RSE) - the smaller the RSE, the greater the precision of the estimate.

The IST collection is designed to primarily give a suitable level of precision to the estimates for total imports and exports for Interstate Trade between Queensland and other Australian states/territories. Estimates at the more detailed commodity levels are subject to higher RSEs and are less reliable. The IST collection has been designed to achieve RSEs in the range 5-15% for total imports and 10-20% for total exports, in the main these RSEs have been achieved. Estimates with a RSE of less than 25% are considered sufficiently reliable for most purposes.

Other inaccuracies, collectively referred to as non-sampling error, can occur in any statistical collection regardless of whether the collection is based on the full enumeration or a sample. For example, the impact of non-response to the statistical collection, errors in reporting by providers, definition or classification difficulties, errors in transcribing and processing data and under-coverage of the frame from which the sample was selected. If these errors are systematic (not random) then the survey results will be distorted in one direction and therefore unrepresentative of the target population. Systematic errors are called bias.

Every effort is made to reduce non-sampling error to a minimum by careful design and testing of the questionnaires, efficient operating procedures and systems, and appropriate methodology.

COHERENCE

The ABS attempts to ensure all its economic statistics are coherent and does this by a number of means. The main ones are use of a single register of business units from which to draw its business population frames, the use of a standard set of business units, the use of a standard set of business oriented classifications (industry, commodity, size, geography). The Interstate Trade collection uses all of these, however, unlike other ABS economic data collections, where the data items collected can be compared across collections, the IST data item is unique. This has an impact on the amount of comparison between its estimates and those of other economic collections.

INTERPRETABILITY

The IST collection, like most ABS economic surveys, takes its frame from the ABS Business Register (BR), which is primarily based on registrations to the Australian Taxation Office ABN scheme. The frame is updated annually and takes into account new businesses and businesses which have ceased operating, changes in industry and other general business changes.

The scope of the survey is all businesses with State of Operation Queensland and Business Activity Statement (BAS) stratification* turnover of greater than $1,000,000 covering all industries but with a higher proportion sampled in industries considered more likely to contain businesses undertaking interstate trade.

Industry and size variables are used for stratification (i.e. the process where a population is divided into non-overlapping homogeneous groups called strata that together comprise the whole population). The survey uses the Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification 2006 (ANZSIC06). This classification system identifies and groups all producing units (both goods and services) in Australia into industries to ensure data compatibility. Size is measured by the Total sales as reported on the Business Activity Statement (BAS) of the business, known on the business register as stratification turnover.

Units in the sample sector are surveyed each quarter for a period of up to three years. Each year, rotation techniques replace a portion of the selected sample sector units with an equivalent number of new units to ensure a fair distribution of the reporting load. Rotations occur in the September quarter each year, and these selections are used for the three subsequent quarters until the following September quarter. It is possible that these rotations may cause unrealistic movements (i.e. not reflective of real-world movements in the population). Large Interstate Trade units which are completely enumerated are include in the collection indefinitely.

Note: sample rotation did not occur in September 2010 due to system constraints.

For September quarter 2012 the ABS implemented a new stratification for IST. The aim is to reduce some of the high RSE’s and improve sample selections.

*Stratification is the process where a population is divided into non-overlapping homogeneous groups called strata that together comprise the whole population. This technique is used to achieve the maximum efficiency from sampling the population.

ACCESSIBILITY

The Interstate Trade, Queensland publication is available on the ABS website and further information is available for client requests.

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